Tale of a Jedi
by Kingofundrock
Summary: The old republic, the Great Galactic war, An age of destruction and conflict, where a Jedi knight must stop the illegal transport of a volatile chemical with help from jedi, bounty hunters, republic commandos and droids, but is this just a mission? or is he flying into a pit of uncertainty and darkness?


Tale of a Jedi

Elvian sat in the passenger room of a planetary shuttle which traveled the cityscape of Coruscant. He had been there not too long ago, inside the halls of the glittering Jedi temple as a padawan. His father before him had been a gray jedi, and once he too had belonged to the great order, but quit it after a woman he had been seeing (behind the order's back) gave birth to his son.

Elvian opened his eyes when he felt the ships landing gear touch the surface of a landing platform with a thud.

"Arrival at jedi Temple landing pad b-9 Master Jedi" Said the pilot droid from the ship's coms.

"Just a knight for now, thanks for the lift"

"Any time sir"

He exited the ship's sliding doors into the busy Coruscant landing pad. He always preferred to take taxies or civilian shuttles to the temple, he didn't like traveling planet-side on high profile ships. The young knight walked among busy pilots, people running late to appointments and galactic troopers… which were many in number. The War with the empire was beginning to spread rapidly. It had started with a surprise attack on the sith homeworld, Korribban, and now the entire galaxy was in fear, even here in the capital of the Republic, shadows spoke, secrets never stayed secret for too long, and the shadow of the sith loomed above the heads of all Jedi.

This was the nature of Elvain's mission, or so he had heard. He walked through the monumental doors of the Jedi temple and was glad to hear the whispers of padawans and the hums of practice sabers. He passed the statues of past masters and headed into the gardens, where his own master waited.

"Master Avali" He said with a gentle bow as he entered the garden. It was well maintained with cleanly cut bushes and trees, red and yellow flowers burst from green leaves and sculptures dotted the area, a truly calming place for any jedi.

"We are now brother and sister young Elvian, not master and apprentice"

"It's a hard habit to break Master" only slightly noticing his words. She gave a kind smile and bowed back at him, the Nautolan's tentacles falling over her curved yet sturdy frame.

"I see you received my invitation?" She said while maintaining her smile

"Summons from the council are hardly a good way to send personal invitations master" Elvain said as he stood next to her, looking at the statue she was examining in the garden. The block of black stone sat surrounded by a multitude of decorative flora, engraved on it, were the names of lost Jedi.

"Is your father's name here?" She asked. Elvian probed through the force, but he sensed no emotions coming from her, only serenity.

"No, gray jedi's names are not engraved anywhere, they are simply remembered" She nodded knowingly and looked back at the stone.

"This task that will be assigned to you will not be an easy one. I would like to make sure your emotions are kept in check Elvian"

He only smiled, under the guise of a stern master he sensed a little whisper of worry in her voice. "I'm a knight now, if I can't treat whatever the council throws at me rationally then I'd better follow in my father's steps and leave the order." He felt the cool metal of his late father's lightsaber through his clothes, hanging in his belt next to his. "And I have no intention to leave"

She stood aside and gestured with her hand. "Then come, we mustn't keep them waiting.

Elvian and Avali entered the council room and were greeted by the masters of the entire order. Master Avali then bowed and walked out of the room. Elvian looked at her leave and a hint of curiosity flashed in his face when it turned to stare at the Jedi in front of him.

"You have questions young one?" Said grandmaster Zym, a male Kel dor sitting in center of those gathered there. "Maybe why the secrecy and urgency of this task?"

"No Grandmaster" said Elvian, "Just looking forward to doing my duty as a Jedi.

"Do not think we are so easily fooled" Said a rough looking jedi master "We will answer your curiosities if you ask"

"It is not my place to question the council master Fane" Elvain said with a calm voice.

"Perhaps, but jedi should not take everything for granted often, even from other Jedi" Said grandmaster Zym. "In all honesty, we called you here personally to send you on a most dangerous task…"

Elvain Swallowed a bit harder than he had intended to, his white cloak hung still against his body. He did his best to calm his thought with the force, and yet he felt… excitement.

"We need you to board an unmarked ship and head to Makeb in the mid rim, we have received word that there might be something a bit more dangerous than Hutts there."

"Something along the lines of a 'red lightsaber' dangerous" said another master

"Perhaps, and that's why we need you, and a small team to go to Makeb, investigate these claims and take care of the threat without the Hutts knowing" continued master Zym.

The Hutts had always been on the shady side of the law. Crime lords the whole lot of them. Aiding the empire seemed logical next step for them to someone outside current events, but for people like Elvian and the jedi it was not so certain. The Hutts gained more from selling to both Republic and Empire than picking one single side or not selling to either, that was plain to see, and yet normal business exchanges would be done by republic or empire officials, no high ranking sith or jedi were usually involved. If there were rumors around of a sith in person making deals with Hutts, did it mean they were trying to get on the empire's good side by offering them more than they did the Republic? This one deal could potentially spell trouble, and yet…

"Theres more that you haven't told me, isn't there" Said Elvian with conviction. The Grandmaster nodded slowly.

"Danger or not we would not have enough information to even justify taking action; that is until we recently received another bit of information. Imperial ships including shuttles and a cruiser have been seen entering the atmosphere of Makeb, as you know, a Hutt controlled planet and luxury retreat in the edge of Hutt space. Normally it would be strange to turn a place like that into a site for business until you hear what we found in one of those imperial Shuttles."

Another master got up from his chair and pushed a button, rising a platform right under Elvain, who moved out of the way quickly. A hologram of a long containment tube ignited from the top of the holoprojector.

"Isotope-5" Said the grandmaster. "A highly powerful, highly radioactive high-energy substance, capable of powering entire cities or destroying them."

"The isotope was very recently discovered and proclaimed as an illegal weapon of war" Continued a Togruta master

"But it seems our friends in the empire do not share our views." Said master Zym.

"If this mission is a success, then the deal's fallout should not be traced to the republic or the jedi, thus leaving the exchanges like before or better yet, in our favor"

Elvian kept thinking, if this was true then the empire would have a huge advantage over the republic! The Hutts couldn't continue to be neutral and all supplies, as limited as they are, would be cut completely, leaving the republic in even more danger and the empire in their back yard!

"Is there any possibility the deal has been made by a single hutt and a single sith individually? If the sith is high enough in rank to have a few cruisers or even a full formation, one missing cruiser and a handful of shuttles a few hours or days then it wouldn't go noticed."

"Yes but the Hutts are vigilant, even more so than the empire in some cases. If unannounced ships were coming and going into one of their systems you can bet all if not most of them would be curious" Said Zym. "But a lone sith, that might be more probable, in any case the problem remains. Go to the Spaceport and meet up with the pilot of the ship in bay 9, he will be your transport for the time being, also you might want to bring someone along, just don't bring more than 4 people, captain's orders, he will relay the rest of the mission"

"Any questions Elvian?" Said Zym

"None Master, I will assemble a team and take off immediately"

After that the doors behind Elvian opened and the masters bowed lightly. "May the force be with you"

"And you as well my masters" Without giving them a reason to doubt, he turned and left the room in a steady yet hurried pace.

His head was swimming, he had to go undercover, stop a sith from taking a rare and volatile compound that would put the republic in danger, all while in the midst of Hutts and wealthy civilians and only with 4 people. He knew after they were in space he would need to meditate deeply about this, and yet, he couldn't help but grin.


End file.
